14.2 Right Conduct

 14.2 Right Conduct

 

Question:

What happens if someone does not follow the norms of proper conduct? 

 

Answer:

Men obtain greatness from the propriety of conduct. The impropriety of

conduct results in untold disgrace.                                                          (Couplet – 137)

 

ஒழுக்கத்தின் எய்துவர் மேன்மை இழுக்கத்தின்

எய்துவர் எய்தாப் பழி.                                         (குறள் -137)

 

Explanation:

            Those who do not follow rules of proper conduct will sooner or later end up with blame for their behavior. There are many examples of people who ended up in disgrace despite all their remarkable achievements. In recent memory, there have been two US presidents who ended up in disgrace. It is not easy to become the most powerful man and the leader of the free world. So far, in the history of the world, there have been only 46 people who have risen to the elevated and the most respected position of US president. Two of them slipped from proper conduct despite their phenomenal achievements and ended up in disgrace of historic proportion. 

 

One of them was Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States of America. In many respects, President Nixon was an able administrator. He ended the American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1973, brought home the American prisoners of war, and ended the military draft. Nixon's visit to China in 1972 eventually led to diplomatic relations between the two nations, and he initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union in the same year. He enforced the desegregation of Southern schools, established the Environmental Protection Agency, and began the War on Cancer. He was re-elected in one of the largest electoral landslides in U.S. history in 1972 when he defeated George McGovern. But despite all these accomplishments, he got himself involved in the Watergate scandal. His 1972 re-election campaign involved the break-in and wiretapping at the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC’s) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Nixon, and his administration were involved in the cover-up, and Nixon himself was not very truthful. As a result of Nixon’s cover-up and illegal activities, he was investigated and was about to be impeached. He resigned before the actual impeachment proceedings. 

 

Another example of a man in a very powerful position who disgraced himself was President Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States of America. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He passed the Welfare Reform Act and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He was very popular and maintained a very high favorable rating throughout his presidency. But his extramarital activities landed him in trouble. He was investigated and found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice in a sex scandal case. He was impeached by the House of Representatives and was later acquitted by the US senate. Thus, a powerful man with a brilliant record of accomplishments ended in disgrace because of a lack of moral character. 

 

            These are examples that warn others that slipping from proper conduct will eventually lead to disgrace.